New Year/New You: Tips For Eating Healthy In The New Year
With the new year in full effect, you're likely wanting to make sure to stick to some New Year’s resolutions to improve your health in 2024.
You vow to swear off sugar, booze, and gluten and hit the gym daily.
But, according to U.S. News & World Report, 80% of resolutions fail by February.
This year, instead of making broad, sweeping declarations about diets and workouts that would be impossible to sustain with your busy lifestyle, why not focus on making small, manageable changes every day? Those little habits add up!
We asked several registered dietitian nutritionists to share their top tips for eating healthy in the New Year.
Go Meatless Once A Week
“Meatless Monday” is a thing for a reason. Lowering your meat intake is better for your health, as well as for the environment. Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Meredith Price says, “When you remove meat, you'll eat more fruits, vegetables, and fiber-rich legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds. These types of foods keep us feeling full and satisfied for longer, reducing the urge to eat less healthy options.”
You can use your Thermomix® to make delicious vegetarian meals in no time. Try BBQ Pulled Jackfruit with Coleslaw, Eggplant “Meatballs” with Romesco Sauce, Vegetarian Chili, or Black Bean Walnut Patties for dinners so tasty you won’t even miss the meat!
Be Mindful of Portions
It’s all too easy to eat more than you intended to if you eat right from the package. Instead, Dr. Lisa Young, PhD, RDN, author of Finally Full, Finally Slim, recommends you “Shop and prep like a portion pro—make half your grocery cart (and your plate) filled with fruits and veggies; purchase single-servings of snack foods or when you get home, portion prep the snacks into single-serve baggies; when cooking, make extras for the week and put them away in portion-ready packages so you can grab and go.”
Thermomix® makes it easy to whip up single servings of healthy foods, such as this Buckwheat and Butternut Squash Risotto, or you could make a meal with multiple servings, such as these Ancho-Cranberry Turkey Enchiladas and then store them in single servings for meals all week.
Embrace Technology
Kitchen gadgets make healthy eating easy. Jeanette Kimszal, RD, says, “Gadgets are the best thing to help make meal prep easier.
Of course, we’re partial to the Thermomix®, because it truly does it all. It weighs, chops, mixes, blends, grinds, stirs, steams, emulsifies, whips, cooks, and even kneads. You can have total control over your food and save time, too, with a Thermomix®.
Work On Small, Consistent Improvements
According to Katie Goldberg, MCN, RDN, LDN, “You put too much pressure on yourself if you think that "a new you" is realistic — or even needed!” She says, “It can be tempting to try to completely overhaul your diet in January. Instead, focus on one or two small habits or goals at a time. Eventually these things will become second nature (not so much work!), and you can move on to the next ones. This helps prevent overwhelm, and actually makes the changes stick!”
For example, you could commit to adding a fruit to your breakfast every day, such as the berries in this Breakfast Protein Smoothie, or try adding a green vegetable to your dinner every night, like this Kale, Broccolini and Cranberries with Almonds or these Lemony Green Beans.